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Why Do Hurricanes Have Names? And Why Are Some Retired?
For a VERY long time I've wondered about this topic. I was even going to do an informative speech on it in my public speaking class, so I know that a lot of people have probably wondered the same things/asked the same questions about hurricane names like "Where do they come from?", "Why do we name storms?", and "Why are some names retired?" Hopefully in this article I'll try to give answers to these questions easily. "Why do hurricanes have names?" Interestingly, hurricanes historically haven't had names at all. Up until the early 1950's, hurricanes were tracked by numerical 'names', like the year or month they occured, or the order in which they occured. Obviously this had to change for several reasons. One, with the advancement of newer technology, especially in the 50's, there was a need for quick, streamlined communication regarding these storms or else there would be confusion among the population. These names also provided and easy way for people to remember and talk about these storms. It's much easier to remember "Hurricane Ida" or "Hurricane Francis" than "Hurricane 1946". Plus, how would the public differentiate between hurricanes in a particular year easily if there were more than one approaching the U.S.A? Three different Hurricane 1946's would be especially confusing and mayhem-producing for everyone. "Where do the name lists come from?" The list of hurricane names for each season is published by the World Meteorological Organization. Contrary to the popular belief that the names are randomized, they actually are repeated after every 6 years. That's why some of the names from the 2018 list sounded familiar, most notably Hurricane Isaac from the 2012 season. You may have also noticed that the name "Sandy" was removed from the 2018 list and replaced with "Sara". Many name lists are altered in this way, and I'll explain why in the last question. The third question I've asked before is "Why are some names retired?" One of the best examples is Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Hurricane Katrina caused unthinkable damage to the Gulf states of Mississippi and Louisiana, especially the city of New Orleans, LA which is significantly lower than sea-level. Names are retired for two main reasons. One, if a devastating hurricane hits land and causes significant damage and loss of life it will be retired because of societal reasons. When people go through a hurricane or any storm that causes trauma they don't want to constantly think of the event. ''Not ''retiring a Catastrophic hurricane's name can really upset the group of people affected because it reminds them of past experiences if it was reused in later years. Second, it's retired because it can confuse meteorologists when trying to research past storms and compare them to others. If you have a "Hurricane Dorene" from 1967 that was a category 4 and another "Hurricane Dorene" from 1993 that was the same rating, it can be confusing as to which past hurricane you're referring to.